Key Note Gaming

August has arrived, which means fans of video games have a whole new month's worth of PS5, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch 2, and PC games to crack open and play. No matter what platform you prefer, you'll find something fun to play this month, whether it's a very different type of game from the makers of Pokémon with Beast of Reincarnation, or a fighting game like Marvel Tokon, or a strategy take on Star Wars with Zero Company. The Switch 2 is also getting a ton of big games previously released on other platforms this month. Read on to see release dates for all the biggest games and expansions coming out this month and beyond. Let's have a look. If you're the preordering type, you can click the links for the platform of your choice to see the game at Amazon (if available). August 2026 - Video Game Release Dates Anomaly President - August 3 - (PC) Beast of Reincarnation - August 4 - ( PS5 , Xbox , PC) Big Walk - August 4 - (PS5, Switch 2, PC) Final Fantasy XIV ...

A Rust player left paralyzed by cops in a swatting incident is now suing the police for $176 million. Back in April of this year, 23-year-old Tucson resident Axeel Melendez was shot in his leg and spine by two officers who stormed into his house via his bedroom window. The cops were responding to a false report of an active shooter in the building — despite Melendez previously warning their unit that he was being targeted by a potential swatter. Melendez will likely remain paralyzed from the waist down for the rest of his life, and is now seeking damages for his medical expenses and wage losses. Just two days before, Melendez had been hacked by another player of the survival game Rust, who accessed personal details on his computer and then demanded money not to release them publicly. Melendez didn't pay, and was then threatened with swatting — a practice where armed law enforcement is called to an address under false pretences. Concerned for his safety, Melendez called 911 to repo...

Marvel's Wolverine will have gore, intense violence, strong language, and at least a few scenes featuring "a character's exposed buttocks," according to its Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB) rating. The full description for Insomniac Games' M-rated superhero experience warned would-be players that "partial nudity" is one of the many elements they'll need to consider before picking up a copy this September (via MP1st ). However, a more specific explanation toward the end of the page suggested the only example of this in the game might be one or two instances of on-screen butts. The warning reads as follows: "A handful of sequences briefly depict a character's exposed buttocks." The context and character butt in question remains to be seen, but fans may want to prepare for Logan's rear end to be front and center in his own video game. For some reason, this isn't quite uncharted territory for Wolverine. Disney+ left Hugh...

A new weekend has arrived, and today, you can save on select LEGO sets, Death Stranding 2, Saros, Mega Man Star Force Legacy Collection, and more. Check out our top picks for Sunday, August 2, below. 20% Off the LEGO Pokémon Pikachu and Poké Ball Set Macy's has a great deal today on this LEGO Pokémon Pikachu and Poké Ball Set. Normally priced at $199.99, you can save $40 this weekend, with the set on sale for $159.99. Featuring Pikachu and a Poké Ball, this is a wonderful collector's item that can fit on any Pokémon fan's shelf or collection. Death Stranding 2: On The Beach for $39.99 Death Stranding 2 took almost every major issue fans had with the original and provided a solution. The 2025 release is available right now for $39.88 on Amazon, which is a great price considering there's north of 100 hours of content here. As Hideo Kojima's latest, this is a must-play for any fan of Metal Gear, Death Stranding, and even those simply looking for an impactful experien...

It's been two years since FromSoftware released its Shadow of the Erdtree expansion, but a new post from the developer has some fans believing that even more Elden Ring DLC is on the way. Outside of a few updates for multiplayer spinoff Nightreign and A24's live-action movie , things have been quiet over in the Elden Ring camp. So, when the studio behind the critically acclaimed fantasy RPG franchise published a somewhat ambiguous social media post , fans wasted no time going rabid with excitement. "Even the perilous hunt for the demigods holds moments of quiet wonder," the X/Twitter post said, accompanying a 12-second video of a player riding through Siofra River. Even the perilous hunt for the demigods holds moments of quiet wonder. #ELDENRING pic.twitter.com/5sJyVOYi17 — ELDEN RING (@ELDENRING) July 31, 2026 It's innocuous enough on its own, but for those who have waited years for more Elden Ring DLC, it's turned into a gold mine to spin theories ...

Hololive Dreams is a rhythm game, but it’s not JUST a rhythm game. Based in the popular virtual VTuber agency hololive, which consists of dozens of digital influencers streaming everything from video games to concerts, hololive Dreams aims to attract players who might not be familiar with (or fans of) music-based gameplay. The game, which was released on July 23, layers RPG elements on rhythm game base. The hololive Dreams (often abbreviated to “holodri”) development team says this unique combination was an effort to make the game larger in scale while making it more accessible to a bigger audience. I spoke exclusively with the Producer of hololive Dreams, who goes by the moniker Mr. O, and Mr. K, the Head Supervisor of Gaming Business at COVER, which co-produced the game, about bringing more than 50 virtual talent and 150 songs to a rhythm RPG, the challenges of building a game that features dozens of protagonists, and the rationale for producing both an RPG and a rhythm game simultan...

The Palworld TCG has officially launched, and so too has a wave of scalpers looking to make a quick buck on developer Pocketpair's new collectible cards. As promised back in January , the developer has partnered with Bushiroad to deliver an official Palworld trading card game and released its first wave of cards, Dawn of Palpagos July 30, 2026. It was an announcement that predictably triggered further comparisons to Pokémon, and also like the original pocket monster property , Pocketpair's latest creation has some people selling cards for hundreds or even thousands of dollars. As spotted by GamesRadar , eBay has filled with both successful and ongoing listings for everything from booster box cases to, of course, individual (and extremely rare) cards. For reference, retailer Lumius was selling a booster box case – which comes with 12 booster boxes that carry 12 booster packs each – for $499.99. Cases are going for about $1,800 on eBay . While there are plenty of Palworld fans c...

Tom Holland thinks that Marvel's Spider-Man 2 game did the symbiote suit so well that he's unsure if they could pull it off in live-action. Speaking on the Happy Sad Confused podcast , Tom Holland had high praise for Tobey Maguire's black symbiote suit in Spider-Man 3. However, he is unsure how they'd pull such a thing off in the MCU, especially following the Insomniac games. "I think if we ever got to do a black suit in Spider-Man, I don't know how we would tackle that challenge," said Holland. "They did it so well in [Marvel's Spider-Man 2], and I don't know how you make a suit that's similar to the one in the game without having a CG component. I don't know how you would do that." There is a lot of contention over how the symbiote suit should be depicted in Spider-Man media. Some believe it should be more cloth-like, while others think it should be more gooey and slimy, which is largely the direction Insomniac took in their ga...

A local card shop held an ‘anything but a deck box’ tournament, and the winner put their cards in a literal loaf of bread. Card games are having a bit of a moment right now (despite scalpers upending the market), and one card store decided to bring its players together using an unconventional method; challenging them to bring their decks in anything but a specialized box. Magic , Pokemon, Riftbound, and other trading card game players will most certainly have purchased at least one deck box in which to store the cards they intend to actively play with. Oftentimes, these are specially-made, leather-coated boxes from specific companies, but they can be handmade, as well. They don’t have to be boxes, either, but that’s the usual shape most folks go with. This time around, players had to show up to their local tournaments using literally anything else but a box to store their cards… and the winning player put their deck inside a loaf of bread. As told by Reddit user and Pokemon TCG playe...

Legendary adventure game designer Ron Gilbert has announced Thimbleweed Park 2, a sequel to his 2017 pixel-art point-and-click adventure game about two Mulder and Scully-like characters (not to mention a host of other playable heroes) solving a murder mystery, including hundreds of puzzles along the way. It's in development for PC (on Steam and GoG), Mac, and Linux, and it's due out in early 2028. "I have good news and bad news," Gilbert posted on his GrumpyGamer blog . "First the good news. The good news is that we just started production on Thimbleweed Park 2, due out in early 2028. We will self-publish with the help of a private investor. Mark Ferrari, Gary Winnick, David Fox, Octavi Navarro, Robert Megone, and others from the original team will be back!" He then invited fans to wishlist the sequel on Steam before adding, "Now the bad news. There is no bad news, it’s all good news." IGN (and specifically me) gave Thimbleweed Park an 8.5 out of ...

Spider-Man star Tom Holland has revealed his favorite game is The Last of Us Part 2 , but he hasn't watched the TV series. When speaking with Josh Horowitz , Holland was asked about his favorite game. He very quickly noted that it's The Last of Us Part 2, though didn't elaborate much on why that is. When asked whether he'd seen the HBO TV series, Holland revealed he hasn't, simply because he's such a big fan of the game. "I have not watched the series because I love the game so much," said Holland. "I don't play video games all that much, and the game is just so good." Depending on who you ask, that might be a good thing. The first season of The Last of Us was well-regarded by fans and critics, but the second season (not unlike the game) was much more divisive. However, the reasons for the second game and the second season of the show being divisive among fans are actually completely different. The Last of Us Part 2 was controversial amon...

Cyberpunk 2077 is nearly six years old, but fans are still reminiscing about some of its best parts, and its developers are still revealing fresh insights into its creation. Warning! Spoilers for Cyberpunk 2077 follow… The Hunt is a side quest where you join forces with River Ward to investigate a serial killer called Anthony Harris, who River believes has kidnapped his nephew, Randy. Fans have praised The Hunt for how it reveals the serial killer, who at the start of the quest is in a coma in hospital having been apprehended by police. The player picks up snippets of insight into Harris’ character as they search for clues as to Randy's whereabouts. You learn how Harris grew up and delve deep into his psychology through detective work, with little to no combat involved. During a search of Randy's room, V and River log onto his computer to view his activity on the net. At this point you discover Harris and Randy were exchanging messages, and there’s a, well, a very creepy car...

From the D-Day landing that opened Medal of Honor: Frontline to the Battle of the Bulge that capped off the American campaign in the original Call of Duty, it feels like videogames have already told and retold most of the major conflicts that occurred during the second world war. However, while players have previously stepped into the combat boots of soldiers on the ground in various settings from Sicily to Stalingrad, the events of China’s War of Resistance against the Japanese invasion have largely been overlooked. That’s where The Defiant comes in. This story-driven singleplayer shooter from developer Hangzhou Hoothanes Entertainment is set to explore the prolonged and devastating conflict from the perspective of multiple Chinese soldiers. After getting hands-on with it at a recent BiliBili: First Look event in Shanghai, my first impression of The Defiant is that it’s spotlighting a setting that feels unexplored for the World War II genre, in a singleplayer-focussed style that’s a w...

Giants Software and Straight4 Studios have launched a new, free DLC pack alongside a “significant new update” for Project Motor Racing. Update 2.1 includes a total rebuild of the handling model for the GT3 and GT4 categories, Alpha triple-screen support on PC, and more. The ‘Aussie Rivals’ pack brings one of the greatest rivalries in motorsport to Project Motor Racing for the first time, introducing the 2013 Holden VF Commodore and a “completely reworked” 2013 Ford Falcon FG. These Australian domestic models represented the last truly local clash between Holden and Ford, before Holden transitioned to the imported ZB Commodore shell in 2018 and the death of car manufacturing in Australia saw the Supercars series subsequently shift to Chevrolet Camaro and Ford Mustang shells. This era of V8 Supercar racing has been represented in a string of Forza Motorsport games, as well as on iRacing and 2014’s Grid Autosport, but never in Gran Turismo – so this may come as particularly appetising for...

EA’s CEO got an $8 million raise thanks to how well Battlefield 6 performed — four months after the devs responsible for making the game got laid off. Battlefield 6 was the highest-selling game of 2025 , beating out Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 and NBA 2K26. It sold over seven million copies in just three days and was the best-selling title across both Xbox and PC at the time. However, in March 2026 — just five months after celebrating the most successful launch in the Battlefield franchise ever — EA laid off an undetermined number of employees across all its Battlefield teams to “better align” itself around “what matters most to our community.” Now, come July, one of EA’s SEC filings have been released, showing that CEO Andrew Wilson’s total compensation for the 2026 fiscal year added up to $38,649,984. As pointed out by PC Gamer, this is an $8 million increase from his total compensation from the previous year, and he has Battlefield 6’s success to thank for it. The filing credits B...

Capcom’s Q1 report for the 2026 fiscal year is out, and it’s making a lot of players uneasy. A quick look at the data shows that an overwhelming majority of Capcom's sales for Q1 2026 were digital — a whopping 93.3% of them, in fact, including both new releases and older games. That leaves only 6.7% for physical media sales, something that players can’t help but feel antsy about, given the imminent death of physical discs for PlayStation games starting January 2028. A closer look at these numbers shows that 60.4% of these digital sales were for PC, while just 32.9% were for consoles. This breakdown doesn’t come as a massive surprise, given that physical disc drives haven’t exactly been a thing on PCs for the last decade or so, but it’s still notable. This news has sparked quite the debate among fans online, with some wondering whether or not the digital sales figure doesn’t include DLC content locked behind digital-only purchases, or how it’s broken down per game. We can’t know ...